Closet-joint.



1 UNITED STAT S Patented May 24,1904. I

PATE T OFFIC WINFIELD E. HINSDALE, OF NEW YORK, N. x, ASSIGNOR-TO THEHENRY HUBER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A" CORPORATION OF wEsrVIRGINIA.

' CLOSET-JOINT.

v SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 760,863, dated May24, 1904.

Application filed April 30, 1903.

.To all whom; it Mai/concern:

Be it known that I, WINFIELD E. HINSDALE,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough ofManhattan, city, county,

5 and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Closet- Joints, of which the following is aspecification.

other waste pipe which will result in a per- I5 parts.

that the setting up of the closet does not require any particular skillint-he art, but may be accomplished by any workman'of ordinaryintelligence.

A further object is to avoid the use of bolts,

screws, or other external fastenings through the earthenware foot, andthereby render the joint trim and sightly. I I 5 Closet-bowls areusually setxormounted upon a marble or other slab, the end of thesoil-pipe'bei'ng extended up through an open' ing in the slab and joinedtothe bowl at its; The difficulty'of making asatisfactory foot. 3 unionof the metallic pipe and earthenware bowl hashitherto engaged 'theattention of:

plumbers and'others familiar with the art,

and several forms of connection have been proposed Wl'llCll'WGIQdesigned to make a du- I rable liquidJand gas tight joint which would atthe'same time permit the subsequent re-' moval and replacing of thecloset. .It has been proposed-among other constructions, to solder tothe upper end of the soil-pipe a brass or other coupling which isinteriorly screwthreaded and is designed to receive a screwthreadedsleeve which is bolted tothe under certain attendant disadvantages whichresult This invention relates to improvements in closet-floor joints,the object being to provide a floor connection between an earthenwarewater-closet or like fixture andthe soil or fectly tight and permanentjoint between the A further object'is' to soconstruct the parts workmanin setting-up the closet;

In this c'onswarm. 154,996.. (No model.)

from its use. The chief objectionhas been 5 that-when the closet wasscrewed down so: that its flange rested firmly upon the floor or. slabit was very apt to assume a position" which was not in correctalinement. This has necessitated unscrewing the closet until suchcorrect position was-reached, thereby raising the foot of the closetandfilling or packing the space thus left between the foot ofthecloset'and the slab with cement or othermaterial; Another objection hasbeenthat unless the couplin'gwas-fixed to the waste-pipe with itsvertical axis exactly perpendicular to the slab it was impossible toscrew the closet home at'all. Ithas been necessary,

therefore, that the greatest care be taken in 5 the manufacture of thevarious parts, which has involved the fitting together of eachcloset andits accessories at the factoryand the placing of indicator-marks, &c.,upon the complementary parts forthe guidance of the 7 Even under thesecircumstances any unevenness of the parts could not well be compensatedfor, so that the bowl was not certain to rest firmly upon the slab whenin place. My invention avoids these-severa'l objections, while introducing-certain important advantages over the constructions heretoforeused; --To this end in the preferred-construction of my invention Iprovide a coupling of brass or other metal,which is soldered orotherwise unitedtojthe end of the soil-pipe, as heretofore, and Iprovide a floor 'plate which is formed with a-wide lateral flangesurrounding the soil-pipe and which is also formed 5 with a dependingscrew-threaded discharge pipe connection, forming a continuation ofthedischarge-opening of the closet. 'The plate is designed to screw intothe discharge or soil pipe coupling until the under side of itsflange 9rests'firmly against the top'of the closet-slab. The floor-plate thusconstitutes, essentially, a part of the discharge-pipe and is entirelyindependent of the closet-bowl'until the latter is set in place. Theupper'face of the flange is formed with a series ofvertically-projecting concentric flanges or rings, preferably threeinnumber, so that there are left between them two annular grooves. Theflanged foot of the closet-bowl is formed upon its under surface withgrooves corresponding to the rings upon the floor-plate, so that thelatter enter such grooves when the closet is in place. The walls of thegrooves and rings are so formed that when the spaces between them arefilled with cement they will resist relative rotation of the plate andcloset. Preferably this is accomplished by providing the opposing partswith radially projecting ribs or shoulders. Should it become necessaryto remove the closet at any time after the cement has set hard, this maybe effected by bodily rotating the closet, thus unscrewing the platefrom the coupling, the ribs or shoulders preventing the'relativemovement of the plate and closet. If the same closet is to be replaced,it is obvious thatwhen it is screwed down it will occupy exactly itsformer posi-: tion, and a perfectly-tight joint will again result.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a View of the lower. part of awater-closet embody-ing my invention, the connection being shown partlyin section on the line 1 1 in Fi 2 and partly in elevation. Fig. 2 is aview showing at upper left hand a horizontal section on'the line 2 2 inFig. 1 and at lower right'hand a plan of the floor-plate, and Fig; i isan under side view of a part of the closetoot.

Referring to the drawings, let A designate erwise trued at a, so as torest firmly and' evenly upon the upper face of the slab C. The latter isapertured at b, so as to afford passage for the discharge or soil pipeD.

E is a coupling of, brass or other suitable metal, which is designed tofit into the upper end of the soil-pipe D, the latter when of lead beingenlarged to receive a shoulder a, formed upon the exterior of thecoupling. To make an absolutely gas and liquid tight union between thecoupling and pipe, the parts are usually soldered together, as shown inFig. 1.

F-is a floor-plate, which is formed with a tubular connection d, whichis exteriorly threaded to screw into the coupling E. The plate F is alsoformed with a wide lateral flange e, the lower outerv edge of which ispreferably ground or machined to a true plane, so as to rest evenly uponthe slab C, as shown at f; After the coupling E has been soldered to thesoil-pipe D the plate Fis screwed down firmly in place, so that aleak-tight joint is made between the parts, and the flange c restsfirmly upon the closet-slab. The foot B of the closet is designed to besecured to the flange e of the plate F after the plate is screwed homeas just described, and my invention provides for thus uniting the closetand plate by the use of a cement or other adhesive. To afford a largearea of adhering-surface for the cement, I form the upper face of theplate F with several concentric flanges or rings-preferably three, g, h,and i, as shownthese rings entering within corresponding grooves j, 7-",and Z, formed in the under side of the flange B. The rings and groovesare so formed that their contours are non-circular, so that at least apart of their surfaces will present suflicient irregularity to resistrotation of the parts when the cement filling has hardened between them.By preference the rings of the plate are formed with ribs or projectionsm, and the Walls of the grooves of the flange B are formed withcorresponding ribs 12, as best seen in Fig. 2. The rings and grooves ofthe plate and flange do not make contact, but are so formed that thereare left between them spaces for the cement filling 0, the preferredproportions being such that the projections m and n are quite widelyseparated, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that the closet may be freelyrotated when in place before the cement sets or hardens. The spacesbetween the rings or flanges and grooves should be such as to contain asuflicient quantity of cement to securely hold the parts together. Myinvention provides for such a relative proportioning of these spaces andthe two grooves formed between the rings of the plate that such groovesshall contain sufficient cement to substantially fill the spaces abovereferred to. The annular space p between the ring a? and the outer wallof the groove Z constitutes a relief or exuding space for receiving anyexcess of cement when the closet is fitted in place. The ribs orprojections have the effect of increasing the contacting surface for thecement, but are chiefly of importance in that they resist any relativerotation of the closet and floor-plate after the cement is set. To besteffect this result, I form these projections with shoulders radially ofthe plate and flange and with their length approximately perpendicularto the floor. I do not wish to be limited, however, to any particularform or location of them, as any shape or arrangement of the plate andflange may be adopted which will tend to resist relative rotation of theparts after the cement or other filling has hardened. Any suitablecement may be used which will set within a reasonable time; but I havefound that the well-known mixture of litharge and glycerin is welladapted for this purpose.

The operation of setting up a closet according to my invention is asfollows: The coupling E is first secured to the upper end of the soilpipe by soldering or otherwise. The

coupling should not be soldered in place until the-workman has assuredhimself that its axis is perpendicular to the slab, as by screwing downthe floor-plate, the latter being then ing only necessary that the plateshall be screwed down to a firm and even bearing upon the slab. Thespaces or. grooves in the upper surface of the floorplate are nextfilledupon the proper location of the closet.

only necessary that the floor-plate shall rest with cement, and theflange B of the closet is then fitted in place and the closet forceddown until its foot rests evenly upon the slab. Y As the rings of theflange enter the grooves of the plate a portion of the cement isforcedfrom thegrooves until it is spread evenly between the parts in thespaces left for this purpose. The closet may be freely turned until ithas been placed in its proper position," the cement affording noresistance to such movement when in its plastic condition. After thecement has hardened, however, there is formed between the two parts notonly a nonrotative mechanical connection, butan efficient liquid and gastight seal which effectually prevents any leakage through the joint. Asthe faces a; and f of the closet-foot and floor-plate are ground orotherwise formed in true planes, it is obvious that when the closet isset up all parts of the fitting will be brought into correct relativepositions with the vertical axis of the threaded parts exactlyperpendicular to the plane of the slab.

Several advantages incident to my invention will be at once apparent.The use of'all instruments of precision or indicator-marks, &c., areavoided, so that the manufacturer may place the closet and its fittingsupon the or using special care in their manufacture.

The necessity for skilled workmanship is avoided, as the closet may beset up by any one of ordinary intelligence. No'particular care'isrequired in the fitting of the coupling to the soil-pipe nor in thescrewing of the floor-plate to the coupling, as no matter what angularposition the floor-plate assumes at the end of its rotation suchposition has no effect It is in a substantially even manner upon theslab. The entire absence of bolts or similar fastening means between thecloset and floor-plate is a notable feature vof my invention. The partsmay be more cheaply and strongly constructed, and no part of theconnection is visible when the closet is in place. parts are shipped tothe user, who assembles them in the manner before described.

When my invention is used in connection with an iron soil or waste pipe,it will be unsoil-pipe.

The separate It will be seen that my invention involves a novel methodof applying the closet to. the

screwing .the floor-plate to the -soil-pipe and subsequently fasteningthe closet to the floorplate without the necessity ,of rotating theformer. .g'

I claim as my; invention the following-defined novelfeaturessubstantially as hereinbefore specified, namely: v

1. The combination of an earthenware closet or similar fixture and afloorplate,'the one This consists, essentially, in first having a grooveand the other a flangeentering said groove, and a filling within saidgroove, adapted to be introduced when in a plastic condition, and tosubsequentlyharden, said fixture and plate beingformed with a spacebetween them to hold said filling in its plastic condition when in theirupright positions during the operation of setting up the fixture, thewalls of said fixture and plate forming said space being non-circular soas to prevent rotative displacement when the filling has hardened, andsaid walls being spaced apart sufficiently to permit such rotativedisplacement when the filling is in its plastic condition.

2. The combination of an earthenware closet or similar fixture and afloor-plate, said floorplate being formed upon its upper surface withupwardly-extending flanges forming a channel between them, and saidfixture having grooves within which said flanges extend, and a fillingwithin said channel, adapted to be introduced therein in a plasticcondition when the floor-plate is in place, and to subsequently hardentherein, the walls of said grooves and flangesbeing non-circular so asto prevent relative rotation of said fixture and forming a channelbetween them, andsaid' fixture having grooves within which said flangesextend, and a filling within said chan nel adapted to be introducedtherein in a plastic condition when the floor-plate is in place, and tosubsequently harden-therein, the walls of said grooves and flanges beingspaced apart sufliciently to permit relative rotation of said fixtureand plate when said filling is in its plastic condition, and beingnon-circular, so as to prevent such rotation when the filling hashardened, and sai'd plate and coupling having engaging meansforfastening them together.

4. The combination of an earthenware closet having a flanged foot, saidfoot having a series of concentric grooves formed on its under surface,and being formed with radial projections extending within said grooves,a floor-plate having a series of rings upon its upper face adapted tofit loosely within said grooves, said rings having projecting portionsopposite those of the flange, and a filling between the walls of saidrings and grooves.

5. The combination of an earthenware closet having a flanged foot, saidfoot having a series of concentric grooves formed on its under surface,said grooves being formed with radial projections, a floor-plate havinga series of rings upon its upper face adapted to fit loosely within saidgrooves, said rings havwitnesses.

VVINFIELD E. HINSDALE. Witnesses:

EUGENE V. MYERS, FRED THITE.

